Washed It! » Islam

Jet carrying 152 crashes in Pakistan

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Reporting from Islamabad —

A Pakistani passenger jet with 152 people aboard crashed Wednesday in a forested ridge outside Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. It was not known whether there were any survivors.

The Airblue airliner, on its way from Karachi to the capital, had been flying through heavy fog and rain when it lost contact with air traffic control and crashed about 10 a.m. local time in the Margalla Hills region, authorities said.

Rescuers were trying to reach the scene amid heavy rain and difficult roads.

50 killed in Iraq attacks aimed at anti-Al Qaeda fighters

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Reporting from Baghdad —

At least 50 people were killed Sunday in attacks west of Baghdad, including a double suicide bombing against Sunni Arab paramilitary members waiting to receive their paychecks outside a military base.

The choice of victims, most of whom switched sides to take part in the U.S.-backed Awakening movement that took a stand against the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq, highlighted Iraq’s precarious security situation as the country nears its fifth month with caretaker leadership.

Iran merchants and tax collectors end standoff

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut —

A standoff between Iranian merchants and tax collectors ended Saturday as the two sides reached a compromise in a weeks-long on-and-off strike that had cast a spotlight on the economic troubles of a nation now facing tightened sanctions.

For weeks, Tehran’s normally bustling Grand Bazaar had been eerily quiet and palpably tense as security forces stalked its dim galleries, the stalls of gold, jewelry, shoes and clothing that were shuttered under the pretense of painting their storefronts.

Blasts at Iran mosque kill 15

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Reporting from Beirut —

Explosions at a mosque in the southeastern Iranian provincial capital of Zahedan on Thursday killed at least 15 people and injured more, Iranian news agencies reported.

The semiofficial Fars News Agency quoted Interior Ministry official Ali Abdollahi as saying the attack was carried out by one or more suicide bombers and that at least 22 people were injured in addition to those killed.

Nuclear scientist on way home, Iran says

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:51:00 +0000

Reporting from Beirut —

– An Iranian nuclear scientist involved in a murky and clandestine tug-of-war between Tehran and Washington is on his way back to the Islamic Republic, a government spokesman said Wednesday morning.

Shahram Amiri, a 32- or 33-year-old scientist who was in the United States as a result of a defection or a kidnapping, has left America and is en route to Tehran, said the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

“Shahram Amiri left America with a convoy from the interest section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington a few minutes ago,” Ramin Mehmanparast said in comments reported by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iranian nuclear scientist turns up in D.C.

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:10:00 +0000

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Beirut —

An Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran claims was kidnapped by the United States has sought refuge at the Pakistani Embassy’s Iranian interests section in Washington and is seeking to return home to Iran, Pakistani authorities said Tuesday.

Shahram Amiri, a onetime researcher at Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization who disappeared during a trip to Saudi Arabia last year, appeared at the Iranian interests section office at 6:30 p.m. Monday, said Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit.

Iranian state television said Amiri has already been in touch with Iranian media in New York and quoted him as saying he had been held by armed men and under extreme psychological pressure for 14 months and called for his immediate return home.

Rogue Afghan soldier kills 3 British troops with RPG

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:38:00 +0000

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan —

Armed with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and an automatic rifle, a rogue Afghan soldier attacked a group of British troops early Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing three of the soldiers and wounding four others before escaping.

The Afghan soldier was assigned to a patrol base shared by NATO troops and the Afghan National Army in the volatile southern province of Helmand, according to NATO spokespeople and Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry.

Helmand is where American troops mounted a large-scale offensive earlier this year to uproot Taliban insurgents from a stronghold in the town of Marjah.

Al Qaeda-linked Somali group claims Uganda blasts

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:18:00 +0000

KAMPALA, Uganda —

An Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group claimed responsibility Monday for twin bombings in Uganda that killed 74 people watching the World Cup final on TV, saying the militants would carry out attacks “against our enemy” wherever they are. It was the group’s first international attack.

The claim by Al Shabab, whose militants are trained by militant veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, raises concerns about insecurity in East Africa and has broader implications for global security. Al Shabab has in the past recruited Somali-Americans to carry out suicide bombings.

“We will carry out attacks against our enemy wherever they are,” said Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, a militant spokesman in Mogadishu. “No one will deter us from performing our Islamic duty.”

Suicide blasts kill more than 65 in Pakistan

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:14:00 +0000

Reporting from Islamabad and Peshawar, Pakistan —

Suicide bomb blasts tore through a busy market in a volatile tribal region along the Afghan border Friday, killing more than 65 people in an attack that illustrated the Taliban insurgency’s potency despite several recent offensives carried out by Pakistani troops against militants in the country’s tribal belt.

The explosions took place in the village of Yaka Ghund in the Mohmand tribal region, outside the offices of a senior Mohmand administrator, police said. At least 112 people were injured. Authorities said one of the bombers was on a motorcycle, while the other detonated a Toyota Corolla sedan filled with explosives.

The intended target remained unclear. A large crowd lining up for new national identity cards had gathered at government offices in Yaka Ghund’s main bazaar, and the bazaar itself was filled with midmorning customers. Government offices and bustling markets have often been targeted in Taliban suicide bomb attacks.

Now Muslims Demand Full Sharia Law in Britain

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:51:56 +0000